Why Hydroponics is Bad!

The question in the title is pretty much a rhetorical one for people that are informed regarding hydroponic systems for growing garden plants year round. But there's still a small group of people out there that come forth with such questions and it's important to know how to answer them.

A Hydroponic System for Growing Garden Plants Year Round

The real question is it Wrong to use a Hydroponic System for Growing Garden Plants Year Round?

I'm sure that this subject was brought up at some point in a discussion during your hydroponic gardening career when you were looking for information on the advantages and disadvantages of hydroponics. It's surprising how many people believe that hydroponics are just wrong, because of some misconceptions or preconceptions that they have formed regarding the subject.

The following article will not try to answer the question in the title, because it's rhetorical…if you're reading this, you're probably a gardener or someone interested in using a hydroponic system for growing garden plants year round and you couldn't possibly consider it a wrong thing. But I'm going to try telling you what arguments to use when engaging in a discussion around this subject.

Hydroponics work against nature's way!

Hydroponics are wrong because they work against nature's way!

And who exactly decided that whatever works against nature's way is automatically wrong? A tornado is nature's way of destroying millions of houses year round, but trying to stop a tornado requires us to interfere with "nature's way".

Is that wrong?

Of course not, because it benefits us as humans. The same thing can be said about hydroponic grow systems: they help us grow plans faster and of a higher quality, benefiting us.

And using the best hydroponic systems for growing garden plants year round may not be how nature intended vegetables and fruit to grow, which especially could be argued in more temperate areas, but if the alternative is to starve…

Hydroponics produce are filled with chemicals!

Hydroponics are wrong because the plants they produce are filled with chemicals!

This one is probably the most common argument someone opposing hydroponic grow systems will bring on the table. Unfortunately, there's a certain "chemical phobia" running around our modern society that makes us believe that every chemical we ingest will either cause cancer, heart attack or just about any common lethal condition we can think of.

Iron, Calcium, Magnesium, Nitrogen and Oxygen are chemical elements, yet we use them on a daily basis and we need them to sustain our life. Now, if we call them nutrients instead of chemicals…the perspective changes quite a bit, doesn't it?

Go* didn't intend us to grow plants during the winter!

Hydroponics are wrong because Go* didn't intend us to grow plants during the winter!

This one will come mostly from extremely religious people that want everyone else to follow Go*'s words to the letter. I highly doubt Go* intended the human race to die every winter due to starvation, or for every one of us to turn carnivore and start hunting for meat in the cold season.

If you're religious, you could think of using a hydroponic system for growing garden plants year round as a means to spread Go*'s creation beyond its initial purpose, or if you're not all that into religion, you could just see this as a normal step towards increasing our comfort.

I should add that this anti-hydroponic trend I noticed a few decades back has slowly died down with the course of time.

Either people are starting to understand hydroponic grow systems for what they are, or it's just a required thing that we can't shake off, regardless if we think it's right or wrong.

Whichever way it goes, try to lose your preconceptions surrounding hydroponics and start enjoying technology for what it is.